News-Press Editorial: CVHS culture must nurture all students

About 40 parents of Crescenta Valley High School students turned out for a special meeting called this week after Principal Michele Doll announced she had been promoted to a GUSD administrative post. These concerned parents took great advantage of the chance offered them to tell Supt. Dick Sheehan what they hoped to see in a new principal for one of the district's highest-achieving campuses.

Especially given the fact that this meeting was held on a weekday evening, after parents had presumably already put in a full day's work, this was an impressive demonstration of just how serious the folks living in the Crescenta Valley are about the educational environment offered their offspring.

They told Sheehan, among other things, that they are concerned about ongoing issues with bullying. They want to see a new principal who will embrace and nurture all students, including CV High's lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual community. They're looking for a leader who will be a constant presence, for students and teachers alike.

The La Crescenta campus is already an excellent place to get a solid education, but it does still have its challenges. A great sense of campus community must be fostered by the next principal in order that all students feel secure in the knowledge they will be treated as equal members of the school family. It is very heartening to see the CV parents so engaged, looking out not just for their own children, but for all who attend the school. We agree with them that it is absolutely critical that administrators are aware that the home of the Falcons is not just about its facilities, but about a nurturing school culture.